Friday just turned into one very busy news day in women’s soccer…
– Canadian Soccer News first reported that Carolina Morace had resigned from her post as head coach of the Canadian Women’s National Team before it went official later Friday. Morace and the Canadian Soccer Association clashed earlier in the year and Morace’s team came to her defense. But after a disappointing Women’s World Cup in which Canada lost all three group games, Morace appears to be exiting.
– Brianna Scurry is no longer with magicJack. She was serving as the team’s general manager. Officially, team owner Dan Borislow said he had no comment on the situation. Scurry reportedly parted ways with the team at some point during the Women’s World Cup.
– Speaking of magicJack, star forward Abby Wambach will serve as team player-coach, according to the Palm Beach Post. And Borislow said that goalkeeper Hope Solo will be in Florida on Wednesday for magicJack’s home game against Sky Blue FC. Whether or not she is healthy enough to play is another question.
– And as Beau Dure exposes, players from magicJack have filed a grievance against Borislow. It seems that regardless of the outcome, this story is going to grow.
– Check out my SportsIllustrated.com piece on why gauging whether or not WPS gets a WWC boost is not just about attendance and media coverage – the investment has to come, too. Also check out my piece on teamusa.org on how the USWNT’s focus is now on the 2012 Olympics.
– Ali Krieger, one of several stars that America has fallen in love with surrounding the Women’s World Cup, responded to several questions on the Washington Post live blog. She answered the expected ‘Where will you play?’ question just as she told me on Wednesday: She likely won’t play in WPS this season.
– Wambach, Solo, Alex Morgan and other U.S. players have reached a marketing deal with Bank of America. And in that article, Bryan Gumble is referenced as saying that if this was a men’s team, it would be called a bunch of chokers. I don’t agree with the ‘choke’ sentiment, but we saw plenty of it. And for the counter argument, check out Beau Dure’s Sports Myriad.
– Somehow, the FIFA Women’s World Rankings remain unchanged in the top five, which as many will point out further deem them illegitimate. In defense, they are based off of long stretches of performance and not just ‘whose hot right now,’ but having, in order, the top five be USA, Germany, Brazil, Japan and Sweden after this Women’s World Cup just seems wrong.
– Back to Solo: Last night she dunked George Lopez on a drop kick (pretty impressive). She also said she “wouldn’t be opposed” to playing on a men’s team. Surely the idea of a men’s team having her play would be more PR stunt than anything, but here’s the interview:
